Australian DJ's Wont Be Fired For Kate Middleton Hoax

The employer of the two Australian DJ's who pranked a London hospital and are believed to be the cause of a suicide from the receptionist/nurse who first answered their call and put them through to Kate's nurse will not be fired. The employer actually had the nerve to say his employees are the victims. Huh? Last I checked they were still alive. The woman is not and was publicly humiliated and now has a grieving family and two sons who don't have a mother. The two DJ's suspended themselves but are expected to be on the air again soon. Tell me how they are the victims again?

I hate prank DJs. They never seem to think about the consequences of their actions. About 10 years ago when I lived in upstate NY and Britney Spears was on her second album release, 2 local DJs had this "meet Britney" event. They showed up in a limo with a Britney Spears doll. Well, there was a huge crowd of angry people, no crowd control and a woman was trampled to death.

have to agree with Scentphoria. no one but the staff she worked with knew it was her. so not publicly humiliated. not their fault. why's there always a scapegoat for stuff like this? she had 2 kids, she should of thought about them before committing suicide.

Prank DJs are stupid and endanger people's lives, reputations, livelihoods and the safety of the public in theinstance sited above where people were going to get to meet Britney. it's just stupid and immature. The nurse should have just dealt with it and clearly there was more going on with her, but this shows that pranks are not all fun and games, they are not innocent. There are real world consequences for humiliating and tricking human beings.

I would consider having everyone in your workplace to definitely be "public" humiliation. This, in a country where absolutely everyone worships the royal family, and the press is rabid in its pursuit of news regarding them. I don't know if the nurses' names have been reported in the British media, but if not, it was probably only a matter of time. I can see her being embarrassed around her co-workers, worried about losing her job(I've read she was foreign, so maybe afraid of being deported if she lost her employment), living away from her family, and waiting for the other shoe to fall when the entire country found out who she was.

And yes, the DJs are entirely to blame and should face some sort of penalties for it. What ever happened to personal responsibility?? Actions have consequences, even if they're unintended, they need to man up and take responsibility for them.

The woman had to have other problems and they will come out. However, this prank combined with the British press and the subjects was way off the scale of pranks – especially for a British citizen.

Are the DJ's victims? To a degree. What should have been a prank, be it a very nasty one, turned into a tragedy and the DJ's will have to live with what their actions and poor decision making have caused.

The true test will be what they do or don't do for the rest of their lives. Time will tell.

This is not the first prank that has resulted in a death – suicide or accidental and unfortunately it won't be the last. People are very slow to learn and quick to make $$$$$

First off, this woman who died, all she did was transfer the call – she wasn't the nurse who actually gave out information, so I just don't get why SHE would have been so rattled. You would think if anything, it would be the nurse who betrayed the patient's confidentiality.

Also, if her death is truly related to this prank, then she was clearly more fragile than anyone knew.

I agree with most that the DJs aren't directly responsible for her death, but to call themselves victims just extends their douchebaggery. You did something mean and stupid, which indirectly may have contributed to someone's death. Remember the teenage girl you got to admit was raped – on the air? That's a victim.

@surfer, I think that the nurse who relayed the information did so because she believed that the call was legitimate, BECAUSE it was put through. She may have assumed that to get passed through it had been verified. Though, I'm thinking she likely didn't know that a nurse was manning the reception desk.

Yeah, these are not good people. They made fun of babies born with extra limbs, mocked and threatened a reporter on the air (called her a fat slag and said he'd hunt her down), etc. And the teenage girl – she was 14, and admitted on air during a lie-detector prank that she'd been raped when she was 12. The jerk smirked and said, that was your only sexual experience?

Enty's taking way too strong a stance on this. The DJs were immature DBs, but if you've listened to the call, it's a travesty that they were allowed to get through to Kate's room without security catching them.

As for the nurse, nobody (AFAIK)has any idea what was going on with her or if her suicide was a result of the call. It would be preposterous to leave your two kids motherless because you transferred a call.

I'm sure the nurse had other issues and didn't kill herself solely over the prank but rather had a history of mental health issues and/or depression prior to this and this was the last straw that pushed her over the edge and there was no way the radio DJ's could have predicted this tragic outcome nor was it their intent. Now people are bullying them and that isn't right either.

While I agree with a lot of the comments on both sides and find this radio network in Australia to be deplorable. It's worth noting that the two DJ's involved in the prank were not the same ones involved in the teenage girl admitting to being raped. That douchebag is Kyle Sandilas. Google him if you want to read about a gross, obnoxious human being who has no regard for his actions and works for a company who let him get away with it.

I'm not a fan of shock jocks or DJs that like to do this sort of thing and giggle like idiots while doing so, thinking they are brilliant comedians and the rest of the world have the brain power of a flea–so there should be some sort of consequences for them for thinking this was a good idea to begin with. No they aren't responsible for the nurse killing herself–that was her decision. But the hospital really should have had ALL their staff on high alert and should have been prepared for something like this. When you have a high profile patient some sort of protocol about security should have been in place.

Hope the woman rests in peace. Shock jocks are a cancer on society, and why their liquid dirarhea is allowed on air is beyond me. And the idiots that listen to it and laugh are 100 times worse! These two brainless, ethicless subhumans shld be fired, assp. Jesus, take some responsibiltiy for your actions. Its not "theatre" or "comdey bit", its just mean shit that got someone dead.

Here's a question: why were these DJs still on the air? Did they bring in big ratings? Then maybe Australian radio listeners, who presumably enjoyed this prank and previous ones, are ultimately responsible. If no one listened to their station, these people would have been out of business long ago.

As usual, there's a lot of blame for the victim – survival of the fittest. This trend is probably the big reason the nurse killed herself. She thought that she would be blamed and fired.

There are many factors at work here:

The Hospital: The DJs pranked a hospital. Hospitals are there for when we need acute care, not for bullshit like this.

The Royal Family: What was the nurse supposed to do when the person phoned pretending to be the Queen. Say "Prove it?" ; Nurses put through family members all the time. Why wouldn't the Queen call? It's an honor system.

Kate: Kate had been seriously ill. Yet one more reason not to call and bother the nurses and waste their time.

The Nurse: She would still be alive if the DJs had not phoned. She was so humilated that she took her own life. Things don't stay local these days. This was a prank on a world-wide scale and she was the victim of it. Did the DJs think she would be OK with it? There are even a few people blaming the nurse for putting through what must have been a convincing call! This woman was put in a Catch-22 situation. Get in trouble from the Royal Family and/or her employer. She probably saw this as the end of a job she enjoyed and as a failure to protect her patients.

The DJs: These two went overboard in trying to get attention. The nurse was just trying to do her job to the best of her ability.

Maybe everything in the nurse's life wasn't perfect. But if they had not called, she would still be alive. People have to treat each other with civility. If they had put themselves in her place they wouldn't have done this.

They are shock jocks and people like that need any type of attention in order to feel relevant. Well, they are getting lots of attention now…

The dj's are scum, but it's not illegal to be an asshole and there are idiots who listen to that crap. I'm more shocked at the lack of security at the hospital, especially considering the patient. Any nurse should know not to give information out over the phone without some kind of verification or authorization. The receptionist should have known the procedure for screening calls. Suicide seems extreme for a mistake like this so I'm assuming she had some other problems, personal or work related.

The DJ's were responsible for invasion of privacy at the very least, but bullying to some degree, too. This nurse was a private person who did not thrust herself into the public eye but was thrust into the public by those who had the power to do so. With the power they had comes responsibility. They publically held her up to scorn and rancor. They should be held accountable to some degree for her. I don't know what the laws are in the UK, but if Richard Jewell could collect damages from the media by their treatment of him with the Olympic bombings, surely this nurse's family can collect damages.

Also does anyone seriously think this nurse didn't get reamed by her superiors over this? Just because William and Kate or even the Queen didn't publically cry foul, I can imagine that privately "heads rolled". A breech like this, unfortunately, doesn't get treated lightly. So those DJ's really should be seriously questioning their part in this tragedy.

If any of you live in the Los Angeles area you probably remember Mark and Brian who used to be the morning drive-time DJs on KLOS. They used to do this kind of stunt all the time. I remember one time, many years ago, they called the Vatican and tried to speak to the Pope. They were asking all sorts of stupid questions, and the gentleman at the Vatican was being so gracious, but would not put the call through. I'm not Catholic, but I thought that that was unconscionable. I refused to listen to them after that.

I actually often listen to this station in Sydney. It's worth noting that these 2 are not the regular DJ's on the station and are actually just the "summer" DJ's. This was actually their first week on air. They are not to same DJ's with the rape incident and that incident is also reported incorrectly in the media. Those hosts had no idea of the rape and the teenage girl only told them when they were live on air.I do feel sorry for this DJ's. Yes the prank was in bad taste and shouldn't of been done nor put to air. But they couldn't foresee this happening and no one knows for sure this was the reason the nurse committed suicide. I wonder what would happen if god forbid one of the DJ's committed suicide. Who would be to blame then? It's suicide. No one is to blame. It's horrible and the nurse must've been in a bad place for it to happen. I think the real victims are the family.

I agree that the DJs should face stiff penalties, but the station itself should face the stiffest penalties. How many times have you looked the other way at work because your boss told you to or the company expected you to. It's the companies and the big bosses who should be the ones who are fired and disciplined. They allow and promote their DJs to do the unthinkable for ratings. IT starts from the top. It really does.

This woman was humiliated on a worldwide scale, but the news cycle doesn't end. In another week, we will have someone else to make fun of. She was either mentally ill or a total coward for killing herself and now her children suffer. Kate has a legal case against the hospital, but the DJs, while classless idiots, didn't break the law anymore than I would if I did the same thing.

On the other Nurse suicide post, someone who has studied depression and suicide stated that most suicides are not the result of long-term problems or depression, but essentially the result of the flurry of anguish in the moment.

Forgive me if I have bastardized this, but there is a medical term for it, but I'm too lazy to go back to yesterday's thread to find the post.

If she committed suicide because of this so-called prank, this poor woman got sucked into the vortex of emotion surrounding this event.

AS for the DJs, they had to have known that when they got through to the attending nurse and she gave info, that people's livelihoods were on the line. At minimum.

There's a couple of Quebec DJs who play phone pranks by pretending to be calling from the Prime Minister's office etc. to get through to gov't officials around the world. Or they pretend to be from Celine Dion's team. Essentially, anyone where a French accent would be believed. They have had remarkable success. However, for the most part, they're tweaking the noses of politicians, or are inviting another celebrity to play golf (with Celine). They are not getting private medical information and broadcasting it around the world.

Someone here mentioned upper mgmt is to blame as well. I agree. This 'prank' did not air without approval from station brass.

With the phone pranks, they can be fun and relatively harmless. But this particular prank was doomed from the onset. Tricking someone into revealing private medical information is completely inappropriate. This type of thing should have been recognized as off-limits fodder.

i am a nurse in the US. Now I don't about the privacy laws in England but in the US there are HIPPA laws that are guidelines that you are to follow before divulging the personal information of a patient. If there is something similar in Great Britain this nurse could have potentially lost her license for a serious breach in patient confidentiality. Therefore losing her livelihood and future employment. To some people that would be extremely nerve racking and traumatic. Just imagine you are at work and going about your normal routine, who would think that someone is calling to request information as a prank. She may have been multitasking and doing other duties and just put the call through. Very sad circumstances in my opinion.

What cowards these DJs are. First deleting their Twitter accounts, and now hiding behind the "we are victims" line. I doubt they care that this woman is dead-only that they are getting shit for it. if they were at all sorry they would have at least apologized.

The poor woman probably thought she was going to lose her job right before Christmas. – Those pondscum DJ's are absolutely the cause – all they wanted was a cheap laugh at some-one else's expense – disgusting vile creatures!

I wouldn't be surprised if Prince William asked for heads to roll. I don't trust him. I think he's a spoiled, entitled, lazy brat. Too bad Harry is the younger brother because Harry would make a much better King.

This is a sad sad case, but I don't know about charging the DJs. Were they assholes? Yes. Should they lose their jobs? Maybe idk. DJ prank calls are rampant especially during the morning commute. How many callers just ended up cursing out the DJ as opposed to doing the insane thing that was asked of them/told to them? Should this nurse have been more diligent before transferring the call? Yes. That's phone etiquette 101, especially when you work in a big place like a hospital or business. Sure she could have had a bad day and forgot to ask necessary questions/etc, but hey shit happens. You can get at the DJs for not thinking about all the possible outcomes of their actions, but you can also look at this woman for not thinking out all the possible outcomes of her transferring that call as well. Mental Health is a big issue now a days. Who can you blame for one's lack of mental toughness? I don't know if we can answer that….

And the moral compass of humanity takes yet another hit. Malice – check. Disrespect for the privacy of others – check. Glib and superficial – double check. It's difficult to wait patiently for karma. Whoever decided not to fire the two thoughtless fools should be fired right along with them.

Chilie, I think William wants all the good things that go with being part of the RF but none of the bad things. What does he do? Again, I think he's lazy and Harry is not. Harry has been on the front lines. Has William? Even Diana said Harry would make a better King than William because William was too much like Charles.

Harry has been on the front lines, and William is active in his unit as a helicopter pilot and has participated in numerous rescues.

Neither of these endeavours bear any insight as to the worthiness of being King, imo. At which point is a title only. The monarch does not have any real power with regard to governing the UK and acts as a figurehead only.

As for Diana's statements – made when they were boys, not men – it doesn't matter. William will be the king. Not Harry.

Personally, I don't think it makes one bit of difference which sibling is King. Nothing will change regardless of who inherits the crown.

I work with a woman who needs meds if anyone ever needed meds. She will flip out making simple decisions, the big ones days of fretting. If this were her, she would probably kill herself. We would all feel bad but shake our heads knowing that it was her anxiety disorder that caused her death, not the prank that was played.

@ AnotheramyWe know nothing about this poor woman. You're making very broad assumptions about her. She was under a microscope among her peers and it was about to expand to the general public world wide. Along with the looming threat of professional discipline. This could have been a very rash act. However, right now, no one has all the facts.

People should listen to the call before commenting. These were not mean spirited shock jocks – this was a lighthearted comedy bit that had unintended consequences. Way worse stuff goes on in radio and tv stations every day all over the world without people killing themselves.

It seems people still don't understand the power and consequence of words. Or the harm asinine practical jokes conjured for the sheer entertainment value of the chronically dumbed-down and wicked masses can bring upon others. Fuck these DJ's. They are murderers.

@MadLyb: These DJs aren't even close to being murderers. Nobody has been murdered here.

The nurse, for reasons we don't know, decided to end her life and leave her two kids (a son and a daughter, btw, not two sons, so much for accuracy from Enty) alone.

Those kids will always live with the trauma of knowing they didn't matter enough to their mother.

This has nothing to do with DJ prank calls. It has everything to do with an unbalanced and ultimately selfish woman. She had a roof over her head and she had a profession, and she had two kids who deserved better. She was almost certainly mentally ill and maybe she just had to end it. It was still a selfish act and her children will always be hurt by it.

I find it lame to say one who commits suicide is selfish, and that loved ones don't matter to them. Until you are at the place where you try at suicide, you really have no idea what goes through their mind. Get off of your soapbox.

I guess I don't understand all of hatred toward the DJ's. If anyone or thing is to blame it is the hospital. For christ's sake, they are in charge of the patient (Kate and future monarch baby); she had just had her privacy breached with the naked photos mere weeks ago. If you have a patient with that kind of status, you don't have random nurses covering the phones without VERY CLEAR directions. How about you have all calls for Kate directed to the hospital spokesperson so they can be properly vetted? Even if it was HRH, her call should not go to the room until it was checked out. Hospital's fault.

I still don't understand why there aren't any legal ramifications for the DJs. I know nothing about Australian law, but here in the U.S., if someone misrepresented themselves to gain access to confidential medical information, that would at the very least amount to some sort of fraud.

Of course, in this country people go to jail for painting their houses the wrong color and collecting rainwater; you KNOW there would be some sort of penalty for such a distasteful "joke" with such tragic consequences.

Wow it's really disturbing all of the people defending these DJs. They are a-holes of the first order and that radio station is despicable for not firing them. Totally disgusting.

Yes the woman who committed suicide obviously had issues. But, these scumbags new that if they were successful in their prank that there would be some fallout for the people they fooled. Like they didn't know that someone could lose their jobs or get severly reprimanded or otherwise humiliated in their work place.

Again total a-holes and their actions are indefensible. Though we do live in a society where people are always at the ready to rationalize crappy behavior.

You don't know people's mental health or life condition. That's why you don't play cruel joke or prank people. People don't react the same way. Some people are just easily broken. Be nice to others since you don't know what are they fighting everyday in their life. RESPECT people.

Thank you Lilian, I agree. Her level of disgrace may also be a cultural thing, since she was not raised in Britain but a small villiage in India. It could even be a family thing, we don't know. The papers in GB are saying that she told her immediate family and friends, prior to talks of any disciplinary action, how humiliated she was over what happened but her extended family knew nothing about it. And while it may not have been public knowledge that she was the one who sent the call through, she knew, and it was a very big deal to her. I'm certain these two DJs will be prosecuted considering what they did is illegal in Austrailia. You can not record someone without their consent in that country. They are both going down, no question.

People might not know, that in that part of the "Realm"- Disclosure of Royal affairs carries a minimum sentence of 2 years in prison- AND her name and photo was leaked by a "individual's" newspaper- who you would think would have learned something when it comes to how people grieve and the pressure involved- So- YES- she was humiliated, With her face on the front page- with her name AND home addy (gotta love the freedom of press act the pushed through 12 years back) So…. While suicide of course is no answer- she was a laughing stock of a Nation- children had to be pulled from school as they were being mocked to the point of tears- She was looking at Jail time (yes… it is obscene) Plus the loss of Job- Now… The victim is who……..

There's no way of knowing whether or not the nurse had a history of mental illness, but the situation reminds me of Japanese/Chinese businessmen who commit suicide over some type of failure (i.e. toys recalled over lead paint). The feel so disgraced, and that they've brought dishonor to their families, that they choose to end their lives.

I don't think you need a "history" of mental illness to off yourself, personally.

There seems to be a lack of sympathy in a few of the posters. To say that Jacintha was alone responsible for her suicide is a simplistic, immature and cruel response to the pain of another human being.

I hope to god that you are more sympathetic to the people in your life. If you aren't more sympathetic, you are going to learn some terribly painful life lessons when you lose a loved one because you were too stubborn and opinionated to listen without first judging.

We are not islands – we are social creatures and part of the human family. I would imagine, that unless those DJs are total dolts, that they are learning the very painful reality of the tragedy that they were a party to.

Some of you have not been personally touched by suicide, or you would not be so cold to this issue. It touches most families and social groups sooner or later. Your turn will come. You have just been lucky so far.

I think everyone here is forgetting about the massive reach this story had. No doubt both the nurse AND the DJs got tons of hate e-mail, etc. Do not discount the part the media and the internet played in this tragedy.

We live in a world now where anyone and everyone can be bullied mercilessly by strangers. And there are more than enough people (like all of us, mind you) who feel entitled to express their opinion anonymously and publicly, without much regard to whom we might inadvertently hurt.

I think pranks aren't funny…ever. And until the shock jocks and prank DJs don't exist, or until bulletin boards like this disappear, there is always the chance of something like this happening.

Well stated Tuxedo Cat! I shared my personal experience with suicide on Friday's post. I guess I should have waited and saved it for here. For those of you who are so quick to judge this poor woman, please go read. Maybe it will help you understand and have more compassion about this painful issue.

Playing devil's advocate, isn't it true that Hindu women with children are highly unlikely to commit suicide? With very little info about who found her etc, I am wondering if the palace is creating a fake story and the nurse is still alive. Have they talked with any of the nurse's friends? I think the palace might use this to make sure Kate is not treated like Diana.

I think the main reason they haven't been fired is because the cal was Pre recorded and cleared by management and the station lawyers. So while they are the faces of the prank, behind the scenes they aren't the ones responsible for it going to air. At the end of the day I highly doubt they would ever work in the industry again.

@secret things – really? I thought her name and such was only released AFTER she killed herself. Up until then, I knew about the incident, but most if not all of the UK media didn't even broadcast the call, citing the same reasons they didn't publish Kate's photos.

Although I'm loathe to believe unreservedly anything the media says, I can well believe the statements set forward by both the hospital and the Palace, that no suspension or disciplinary actions had been taken, nor a complaint made about the call. I feel that even if the hospital was 'supporting the staff members affected' as they suggested, that the nurses still felt humiliated and scared. (From personal experience I know I still felt rotten and guilty after a daft mistake at work even though the management were lovely about it).

I think Tuxedo Cat said it best – even though the DJ's couldn't have known their prank may have caused something this bad, they still attempted a joke that could cause personal and profession anguish, as well as divulging highly personal information of someone in medical care. They said they didn't expect to get through – ok, but that doesn't explain why they thought it was a good idea to broadcast it anyway.

My opinion is, the station should be punished for releasing the recording in the first place (which I thought before the poor woman killed herself), and the DJ's shouldn't attempt to hide from the consequences their poor attempt at humour, derived from someone else's medical trauma caused.

I feel badly for this poor nurse – she clearly had pre-existing problems. However, prank calls are not the end of the world and calling for these DJs to be fired is just ostentatious moralizing. There are vulnerable people in this world but it is completely unreasonable to expect everyone else to tip-toe around them. This lady would not have even received any publicity if she had not killed herself. This campaign against the DJs is just an excuse to whip up rage and lead people around. Stop it.

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